Bald eagle conservation reaches new milestone in Indiana

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An eagle! Someone on the wooden dock shouted and then pointed. Everyone looked, spellbound.

It was a windy, autumn day at Patoka Lake in southern Indiana when the flapping wings crossed the sky and a dozen pairs of angler eyes turned away from the water and gazed upward.

One bird, one American bald eagle, its powerful wings propelling flight, appropriately in the tiny community of Birdseye, was simultaneously offering a bird’s-eye view the pull of its symbolism, history and majesty.

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The bald eagle has been America’s national bird since 1782 when it first appeared on the Great Seal of the United States. It has gone through hard times over the centuries, been threatened, endangered, protected and resurrected nationwide and in individual states.

In December, the state’s National Resources Commission removed the bald eagle from Indiana’s list of endangered and special concern species, an event heralded by the Department of Natural Resources with the declaration “Successful recovery of bald eagle marks big win for conservation.”

“It has definitely been a long time coming,” said Brad Bumgardner, executive director of the Indiana Audubon Society.

The bald eagle’s journey from bird on the wane to bird on the rebound, nationally and locally, represents a decades-long battle involving legislative and mindset changes, successful to the point where eagles have been seen in 88 of Indiana’s 92 counties over the last five years.

“There are well over 300 nesting pairs in the state,” Bumgardner said.

The average person, who came of age since 1940 when Congress passed the Bald Eagle Protection Act, and since 1973, when bald eagles were one of the first species listed at risk under the Endangered Species Act, may not comprehend how likely seeing an eagle in the flesh has become.

“The public still thinks of eagles as being fairly rare,” said state orinthologist Allisyn-Marie Gillet. “They think it is a pretty unique experience (to see one in the wild). They think they are much rarer than they actually are.”

Many people, she said, “usually say, ‘I’ve never seen an eagle in my life. I have to report it.’”

So they do. To DNR, to the Audubon Society, to online sites, engaging in what Bumgardner calls “citizen science. They are such a large, charismatic bird.”

That type of vigilance, that kind of enthusiasm, that support for programs instituted by federal and state governments is really what saved the eagle.

Public backing means it is possible to see a bald eagle at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, along the White River, on the shore of Monroe Lake in Bloomington, in Ewing outside Brownstown and for a fleeing moment above at Patoka Lake.

Danger and rescue

After American independence was won from Great Britain in 1776, the Continental Congress assigned Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams the task of designing a national seal.

Those great minds did not think alike, and they could not agree. Six years later, Charles Thompson, secretary of Congress, inherited the assignment and worked the bald eagle into the design.

A century later still, the United States was home to 100,000 nesting pairs of bald eagles, but by the 1960s, that number had dwindled to about 450 in the lower 48 states.

The bald eagle is the only eagle that lives solely in North America. It is distinguishable by a mix of brown and white feathers, bright white head, yellow beak, yellowish, almost sinister yellow eyes that basically announce just who is in charge, and possess an impressive wingspan of roughly 6 to 8 feet.

Bald eagles have tremendous eyesight and can spot prey at great distances. The sturdy beak and sharp orange talons can be employed as attack weapons when feeding.

“It’s a beautiful bird,” said Jill Vance, an interpretive naturalist at the Paynetown Activity Center at Monroe Lake. “It’s also got the added pizzazz of being the national bird. People can recognize them. It makes it a little more special.”

The publication of Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” in 1962 was a game-changer, documenting how chemicals such as DDT were despoiling the soil and destroying the environment and how they rippled through the food chain. Eagles were paying the price. Eradication of habitat led to the plummeting population of eagles.

A revered bird throughout American history, public opinion turned against the manufacturers, thus sparking the decades of effort to restore the eagle’s prominence.

Unlike pigeons, they do not like to hang around skyscrapers. They are most comfortable along waterways, making nests for their young in wooded areas.

States were encouraged by the EPA to restore eagle populations with their own programs, and Indiana reintroduced eagles between 1985 and 1989. Some 73 eaglets were imported from Wisconsin and Alaska. Alaska alone has about 30,000 bald eagles.

The chosen Indiana location was Monroe Lake. They grew up and were released and breeding pairs developed.

“We are ground zero for eagles,” Vance said. “They are pretty much part of us. We are one of the best places (in Indiana) to see eagles.”

Monroe Lake has between 10 and 14 active eagle nests, she said. Winter is the best viewing time. The population can double with migrant eagles making for upwards of 30 eagles residing at the lake.

“They’ve done quite well,” Vance said of these descendants of the transplants.

Eagles do cling to habits. They come back to within a 50-mile radius of where they take their first flight, Vance said, and build nests for future generations where they matured themselves.

Prime time is December, January and February. Eagles are not nesting at this time of year, so they spend considerable time perching in trees when not feeding, and because trees have shed most of their leaves, the eagles can be visible from greater distances. However, state officials recommend staying 330 feet away and relying on binoculars or spotting scopes to watch eagles.

There also is no such thing as a sure thing time to catch them in action, though after sunrise into mid-morning and approaching sunset are the best bets for seeing the Monroe eagles in person. They do not file flight plans.

“I can never guarantee you’re going to see an eagle,” Vance said.

One time when DNR Monroe officials hope people see eagles at the lake is in late January. Between Jan. 23 and 31, there will be opportunities to participate in sunset eagle watches in groups of up to 12.

Monroe has developed a tradition of annual eagle driving tours but due to the COVID-19 pandemic will try this new program. Illustrating the thirst for eagle experiences, the tour has brought out to 300 to 500 people in a three-hour period, Vance said.

Older people who remember when the eagle was on the brink, when it had to be saved, get more excited when they see an eagle in the flesh.

“That’s their institutional memory,” Vance said.

Morning at Monroe

Fog shrouded Monroe Lake in a light coating at the end of the Pine Grove Boat Ramp before gradually yielding to sunshine.

This was a normal place for a gathering of eagles, but Sunday, they didn’t come around. They remained out of sight. Some friends fishing, longtime lake regulars, can’t begin to count how many times they have watched eagles do their own fishing.

Unlike the solo driver who accidentally sees a single eagle winging around, these Bloomington fishermen’s years of visiting provided them with eagle tales perhaps unimaginable to people 40-some years ago.

“There’s plenty of them out here,” said Travis Matlock, part of a Bloomington family that has lived nearby for many years. “It’s such a common thing for us.”

He is not jaded but still pleased when eagles appear. When he takes his children fishing, they barely notice them. That’s because they have seen eagles at the lake as long as they have been fishing.

“My kids go, ‘Whatever,’” Matlock said.

Fishing partner Max Williams said one time at the lake, they watched an adult eagle impart its own fishing lesson to a younger eagle: The dive, swoop and grab a fish and move to pluck it out of the water. Williams said the younger fish just couldn’t grasp the instruction well.

Trees line the road to the ramp, which also featured a “Road ends in water” sign as a warning to drivers. Smaller nests belonging to other bird species were spotted. With the arrival of winter, branches were bare of leaves, and once the fog lifted, visibility allowed for clear viewing of the opposite shore.

“I’m scanning those trees,” Williams said. “I’m surprised I’m not seeing one.”

As Vance put it, no guarantees.

Eagles everywhere else

While eagles took the day off from being photo ops at Monroe, they were likely being spied all over Indiana.

There are bird-watching, eagle-reporting, ecofriendly online sites galore where those who see a bald eagle gush about the viewing. Reports are from all over, dating back days, weeks, even years.

A kayaker in Cicero watched an eagle consume a fish before flying away. “Close enough to hear the power in that amazing wing span,” the woman wrote.

“Wow! Just wow! So lucky today. American bald eagle was circling a retention pond behind our home today,” a man reported.

“We spotted four eagles — two mature and two young ones — perched in trees in our yard in northern Vermilion County,” wrote a woman of eagles that made house calls.

Bumgardner’s Audubon Society office is in Indianapolis, the center of a metropolis of 886,000 people in Marion County.

“I see eagles pretty regularly,” he said. “Every month (near) the Indiana State Museum, they fly right over the building.”

Flying wherever it wants to go.

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